Koran 12/9/11
Well this week has been a busy one! I feel we did a lot more in this class this week than in any other week. I hardly remember what we did on Monday. I really liked the peer editing idea, I think that is very beneficial. It is always helpful to hear someone else's opinion, and we don't always get time to share our work with others. THe people who read and critiqued my paper, including you, really pointed out things that I would not have thought of. It is also kind of neat to read someone else's paper and get a sense of how they write and also learn something new!
This week we read the New Testament and the Koran. Once again, I am not religious, so I cannot compare what we read in class to other texts that I may have read. I also find it difficult to actually pay attention to what we read and not zone out because of my lac of understanding of the vocabulary. A lot of the common words that people who have read parts of the Bible may understand, I do not. That seems to hinder me in all areas of learning religion. I do agree with what was said today about how we cannot truly understand the Koran because we are not Muslim. It's kind of like, don't judge a person until you have walked a mile in their shoes. We can only compare the reading to the thoughts already in our head, which are different from the thoughts drilled into a Muslim's mind. I'm sure reading it as someone who grew up Muslim would result in interpreting it differently. One thing that stuck out to me while reading it was the repetition of " God will know what you do." It was worded in multiple ways, but it just made me feel guilty. It puts a lot of the responsibility on the person. Nobody else may know, but God is always watching and always aware of what you do. It just sounded very intimidating to me.
Peer Edit 12/3/11
I found Emilie's paper very interesting. When reading the Odyssey I thought it was completely out of line for these heroes to be crying because men were still supposed to be "emotionless". I thought people then still had the idea that men were not supposed to cry or show any sign of weakness. I guess not! I agree that crying definitely adds to the audience's understanding of the mood in the Odyssey at that time. It makes sense that Homer would use that relatable sign of extreme emotion to better have the audience feel what his characters are feeling. This was a very good essay, it was well written and very informative.
Emilie: I liked your paper a lot, and I very much liked the topic! That is definitely something I thought about when we were reading The Odyssey. Your paper transitions smoothly and has a lot of great information. I really like how you related it so much to The Odyssey, because that is half the point of the paper. Good work! However, the one part I was a little iffy on was when you related it to people today. It kind of goes off topic, I think, but it's not that big of a deal! Other then that I don't think I have any other big revisions to make, just check for grammar and punctuation! I think you have plenty of research. Your intro and conclusion are just fine, I really like the intro. YOu flow smoothly into the thesis of the paper!
Critical Essay
One objective of Honors 201 has been drawing parallels between the texts being read in class, other texts, and the present day. However, one parallel that has not been mentioned includes a deep comparison between women of Ancient Greece, focusing on Athens and Sparta, specifically as contributors to society and to their families, and the women of today. Through this comparison, people today are able to see the development of society and how women have gained the rights they deserve.
To begin, the status of women varied throughout the different Greek city-states. The two most known city-states are Athens and Sparta. These two city-states alone differ greatly in how they let their women live their daily lives. Around the 8th century, women in Athens were thought as dangerous to themselves, and thus had to have a guardian, usually a father, brother, or husband. They were portrayals of evil and temptation. An example of this is show in Homer’s The Odyssey, in which, yes, Penelope is the perfect wife by staying faithful, but the number of women with evil, seductive, and conniving characteristics far out number her. It is debated, however, whether this was just a portrayal of Homer’s individual thoughts of the collaborate thoughts of the time period. They were not allowed to participate in politics, mainly because they didn’t know what was going on due to their duty to be in the home at all times. They were also not really educated, and if so it was by a tutors who taught them spinning, weaving, and other domestic arts. Women were allowed to own things such as clothes and jewelry, but not land. If a women’s husband passed, neither she nor her daughter could inherit land, it was divided equally between the sons. It wasn’t until later in the Archaic Age that daughters could inherit land to help keep the family groups alive. Women pretty much needed to be living with their parents or with a husband at all time because due to Athenian citizenship, women had no financial independence. Speaking of husbands, these women married young to much older men that their parents assigned them to. They did not marry for love or any romantic reason, but for the management of property and the production of heirs. This leads to the thought that there is no real emotional connection between the husbands and wives, unless by coincidence. Life was not about love; it was about doing your duty, getting your chores done, and raising proper heirs to continue the family name after you pass. As assumed, the husband was the head of the household; he made the rules. The wife’s duty was to be in the home, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children; if she was seen on the street people thought she was either a prostitute, slave, or just had to work herself because the family was so poor. This also leads to the thought that due to their need to be in the home, they didn’t’ get much interaction with other people, including other men. This may have led to less of a divorce rate due to other affections, because women probably didn’t get to meet many other men. Being such reserved and distant people, it has been said that, “Women of this time remain shadowy people,” (Blundell 66) because there is so much going on underneath this image of women that people of today can’t possibly know about. The great lack of equality between women and men between 8-6th century Athens is apparent, as women were inferior in every aspect of life.
Life in ancient Sparta was very different for women. It was and is very well known that Spartan women were allowed much more freedom and power in their societies and families then their fellow Greek women from other city-states. Spartan women were known to be confident, audacious women who dressed more freely and even exercised with the men. Women were also given the chance to improve their intellectual skills in school, unlike many other Greek women. To be smarter than the woman standing next to you was to be of greater status in society than her. These women also had more influence in politics due to their greater intellectual skills and knowledge about the world outside their homes. They were still unable to vote, but it was noted that women sometimes still had serious influence. Also adding to their greater contributions to society, Spartan women could in fact own land and could inherit on equal terms as their brothers. Did this equality always happen, no; however, when considering dowry, they could end up with a full/equal share of estate. When these women got married, it was just as it was for Athenian women, to strange men that their parents had paired them with. However, Spartan women got married a few years later than Athenian women, around the age of 18, so they were a little more mature and more able to give birth to healthy children. Concerning the family, a Spartan woman’s husband was gone even more than that of the Athenian woman. This led to the Spartan women having much more control over their families. Spartan husbands had little to no part in the raising of their children, which was the job of their wives; not to mention that most sons left the family early to be trained to become soldiers. This gave Spartan mothers a lot more time on their hands. It is evident that Spartan women were less inferior to the men of their community than Athenian women for many reasons. Spartan women and men each had more control in different aspects of their lives.
In comparison to Athenian and Spartan women of Ancient Greece, women in today’s American society portray similarities as well as differences. For the most part, women can have whatever personality type they want. They can be bold and daring, or quiet and reserved- it is all their decision. If someone takes a walk down the street in most American cities, they will find a variation of clothing and outfits because, unless their religion prohibits it, women and men can dress however they’d like. Yes, certain pieces of apparel may give off suggestions about a person, but it is her choice as to whether she is willing to take that risk. This shows that compared to Spartan and Athenian women, women of today have much more freedom to express themselves and that it is their decisions whether to follow their own preferences or society’s norms. This more relates to Spartan women who could show a little skin if they wanted, unlike Athenian women who had to dress how their government/society told them to. Concerning family situations, times have changed a lot. The perfect family of Ancient Greece including a mother, husband, and multiple children is not necessarily everyone’s dream in today’s society. Many people want to travel instead of settle down to have kids, and that is acceptable. Also, it is not uncommon to find single mothers in this country. Women are still considered to be more naturally care giving and nurturing, but in many families the father contributes just as much to the development of his children as the mother. Another effect on today’s families is the fact that many women work either part-time or full-time. The positive side of that is that women are also able to contribute to the economy and community, however that also means they have less time for their families. This can sometimes have negative effects on children, such as neglect, which leads to poor effort in school, substance abuse, and more. In fact, according to the United States Department of Labor, between the years of 2008 and 2010, the unemployment rate of women, being 8.4%, was less than that of men, which was 10.0%. Most women are able to be a part of the work force because of their educations. Once again, women of today are more similar to Spartan women in the area of intellectual skills. Spartan women were educated, still less then that of men, but more than Athenian women. They were able to build their skills and take pride in how much knowledge they acquired. Today’s women are also able to build their skills in school so they can get more intellectual and better paying jobs. Women have nearly all the oppertunities that men have concerning schooling, and according to the United Nations Statistics Division, in 2008 women made up 57% of the tertiary enrolment in the United States. Clearly stated by the high enrolment of women in schooling beyond high school, they are taking advantage of the privileges that women of Ancient Greece may not have been so lucky to have had. The higher levels of education have also allowed women today to become more involved in politics; however there is yet to be a female president. When comparing Women of today to women of Ancient Greece, the obvious closer match would be a Spartan woman. This is because of the more freedom and independence that these women were granted, unlike the women of Athens.
In final analysis, times have changed plenty for women from the time of 8th-6th century Greece to 20th and 21st century United States. Women of Athens were considered very inferior to men and played the role of the stay at home wife who took care of the kids and the household, and did not get much interaction with others outside the home. She was most important for producing children and listening to her husband. The Athenian woman was not involved in politics or the work force. Comparatively, the Spartan woman was very different, some might even say against the Greek norm. They were very open and forward, able to be a part of the community as well as a wife and mother. Spartan women were still most likely considered inferior to Spartan men, but less so, and it was acknowledged that they knew more then men in certain areas, such as child raising. Spartan women were more than just child-bearers. Women of today can compare more to Spartan women because the level of independence has only grown for women since that time in Greece. Women of today are not the subordinates that women of Ancient Athens were. It is safe to say that throughout the centuries, women have continued to gain freedom and autonomy, along with responsibility in society.
The Art Museum 11/19/11
Today I went to the Ball State's Art Museum. To be honest, museum aren't really my thing to begin with. The art is great and some of the stuff is really neat, but the quiet and fragile atmosphere just kind of freaks me out. Anywho, the first thing I noticed about it was the grand entrance. The steps up to the doors were so beautiful. I felt like I was walking into this grand ballroom. Then we got inside and I saw the pretty dangly diorama sort of thing made of plastic bottles hanging from the ceiling. I was so tempted to steal it and bring it home to put in my room. It was so pretty and just added so much to the room. I liked that a lot of the flooring and staircases were made of things similar to marble. It made the room feel very smooth and elegant and flowy. Which I would think that the creators would want; their viewers to flow from exhibit to exhibit. I also noticed how the rooms, of different sizes, led to other rooms. The art would transition, and so would the room. It continued to flow as it took you to different time period and places. I didn't get a chance to read many of the information labels for the pieces, so I am kind of excited to find out some interesting information on the pieces that I didn't think would actually be too interesting.
Research Paper Proposal and the Aeneid 11/8/11
So I was thinking. I want to find a topic that I can tie into today's viewpoint on it. For example, I was going to research what a wife was supposed to do and how long she was supposed to wait when her husband went off to war (Penelope) back then. Then, I was going to research how army wives are today and see how the role of the wives has changed or not.
The Aeneid at first seems very similar to the Odyssey, but as we talked about it, I felt it was more opposite. The odyssey felt like the closing to all the journeys. The journeys had all taken place, people had suffered, it was finished, and now it's time to move on. The Aeneid was just the beginning. Yes, it seems like this crazy story or dido committing suicide for love and the journey to found Rome, but there is so much more to come. Once Rome is founded, all these new journeys will come about.The Aeneid is actually kind of interesting, and pretty easy to read. Virgil definitely makes DIdo sound like a crazy woman I don't know if that was how he saw all women, or it just made the story more interesting. It's not that Aeneas wasn't suffering, I don't think, it's just that we didn't get to hear about it. I feel like his love was truer than Dido's. She was shot by Cupid to fall in love with Aeneas, and Aeneas' love was natural. Therefore, I think it was just as hard for him to leave, but vein a man and leader, he had to hide his feelings and put his duty before them.I mean, a whole new civilization was a little more important than his love life. This especially shows when he is in the Underworld and actually shed some tears when he sees that he is the reason she kills herself. He tried to make it easier on her by leaving abruptly and not telling her, but it actually made it worse. She didn't know all of his feelings behind it. As for her being so distant there, I think she had already just shut down and shut him out. She was hurting so much that she killed herself. I don't think you can feel that way for too long until you just mentally "check out".
Tao Te Ching 11/7/11
Elizabeth, I think this is a good way of explaining it. [MH]
From reading the dao, I got the feeling that they are just trying to depict the person who can most ideally deal with life. They are describing the person who can adapt most to what life throws at them. They realize that they can't control what comes their way, so they just have to control their attitudes and reactions. When they can understand that everything is thrown their way for a reason and they can handle it without frustration/anger/etc, then they will truly be happy.
In the two other viewpoints of the dao that we discussed in class, I got a very similar feeling. The first one ended with " darkness within darkness, the gate to all mystery" and the second one with "darkness within darkness, the gateway to all understanding". I believe these endings, and specifically the words mystery and understanding, are very connected. One has to realize that he/she is in the dark in life- not knowing what will happen in the future. He/she has to understand that life is a dark mystery that we have to adapt to. Once this is realized, all obstacle emotions(anger,frustration) will fade and the person will be able to just focus on best adapting to situations.
A book that was very interesting to me was 19, because I completely agree with it. It says that getting rid of learning, conventionalized duty, and legalized profiteering would basically make society better and people happier and that is not true. There needs to be rules in a society for it to work and people have to go through some negative things in order to appreciate the positive ones.
The Good Life 10/28/11
Today's discussion really interested me, but it is hard for me to explain my opinions on it. First of all, I'm obviously biased on what a good life is, because I have been molded into dreaming of a nice house, family, car, and job. Not all people want the "American Dream" anymore. Some people don't want to get married or don't want to have kids, and others don't want to settle down and have a nice house, they want to travel the world. The ideal dream life that people reach for varies a lot. Therefore, no matter what people say about every life being able to be a good life, they secretly think their dream life would be the best.
On that note, I do think that there are two parts to the good life. There are the outside factors, the material things you have and how you live your life( extravagantly, frugally), and then there is how a person feels about their life and the things they have and whether they make them happy. I think we can all look at someones life objectively and tell you whether we think they have a good life or not. However, if we go deeper into their emotional life, our viewpoints may change. All in all, I think joy is the most important part of a good life. You can have a materialistically comfortable, good life and still not be happy. So, even though a person has all these nice things and has plenty of money and a nice family, if they aren't feeling joy about their situation in life then I wouldn't say they have a good life. What is the point of having all these nice things if they can't even make you happy?
This leads to the point that a person of any SES can have a good life if they are happy with what they have. We may not look at someone who is poor and living less extravagantly as having a good life, but if they are happy then what else do they need? The point of living is to be happy, in my opinion. That's why we go to school and get jobs; to have the money and create the life that we believe will make us the happiest in the future.
Class Reflection 10/19/11
So far I think this class is going great. There are multiple aspects about it that I like, one being the amount of discussion. I like that its not just teacher lecturing. Sure, that will get information across, but honestly, it doesn't get anyone interested. With the class discussions, we are getting more than just one person's opinion. We are combining multiple peoples' ideas and opinions, along with previous knowledge that we, ourselves, may not have previously had. Also, different people are able to relate what we read in class to different pieces of literature and movies that I never would have thought of, which definitely helps me contrast our readings with different things and pick out its strong points.
I also like that we compare our readings to similar ideas of today. It allows us to see the differences and similarities between religions, laws, and ideas of then and now. We can draw comparisons between the values of today and how we act to support and enforce them and how they may have used different methods to enforce their beliefs back then.
All the people in the class seem very intelligent and opinionated, people that you know will actually do the reading and thats why we don't need to have an assignment for each one, I think. And if they don't understand it, they find a way to make sure they do so they can bring their own ideas to class. It's very cool to be thinking in your mind one thing, and then think about something someone else just said and realize that never even crossed your mind.
Antigone 10/12/11
Antigone was so so so much easier to read than the rest of our previous readings. I could understand it the first time around, and the fact that I could made it all the more interesting. I was actually sure of what was going on at each point in the story, they weren't guesses based on questionable sentences. I was able to get into the story, especially when Haemon was arguing with his father over Antigone's death, which was one of my favorite parts.
I also just loved the character of Antigone overall. She was very dynamic and strong willed, not your average character. She almost scared me a little bit with her readiness to die and lack of fear, but I guess when you don't have much to live for you don't really care as much about leaving this life. It was interesting to see how much she still really loved Polynices after he killer their brother, and to think about whether I would feel the same way if I were in the situation. Would anger over her brothers' deaths not overtake the feeling of loyalty to her brother? The brother who caused all this mess?
Creon seemed like an intelligent but arrogant man. He seemed to think he was so right before and right after they caught Antigone and that she needed to die because she put the will of God before the will of her King.However, I think later on he realized he was taking it a little out of hand when everyone was against him and he realized he was losing points for this decision. However, I think many people, including myself, have this unrealistic view of noble people in that they are very knowledgable and decisive and stick to their ground because they know what's best. If Creon were to admit that he was completely wrong, he would lose all that respect and authority, so he has to modify his extreme punishment for Antigone.
Epic Heroes and Adventure 10/7
Clearly a lot of what I had to say went into our presentation today. I think just putting the word "epic" in front of hero makes it seem larger than a hero, more heroic. The trouble I had was distinguishing why I thought of epic heroes has greater than regular heroes. Each hero is different in his/her own way and when you make a rule, there is always going to be that exception. Therefore, I had a hard time really putting concrete attributes to the name. And that might not even be what epic hero means. Maybe it just pertains to the time period, maybe we were completely wrong. Thats just reinforcing how the word "hero" is used very much on the base of perception.For most people, hero has a set of base attributes that everyone agrees with, but they also have more personal attributes that they also give that hero. This would lead one person to believe someone is a hero because they portray/push for, those more personal attributes, while someone else may disagree with that for different beliefs.
Emma brought this up in class today, and it really was a good comment.She mentioned about whether or not being paid to take on the journey that would eventually make someone a hero would actually lower their status as one. Are volunteer firefighters more of heroes than firefighters who get paid to do what they do? I think most people would say yes, because there is no external incentive for the volunteers. You know they are doing it because they are caring people who just want to help protect the citizens of their community. So, should we count janitors as heroes really? Yes, they clean up after us, poor people, but aren't they getting paid to do that? Not to mention it poses no risk to their lives at all, they are taking no hits for their community.
Song of Songs and Job 9/30
Song of Songs I liked a lot. It was just about the encompassing aspects of true love, I think. They just talked on and on about the lovely aspects of each other's bodies and yada yada. Some parts that I didn't understand were when it said something like" don't awake love until its ready to rise" something along those lines. What does that mean? Like don't accept love and go forth with the actions that accompany it until you know that you can be together? I also was confused when he would call her his wife and his sister. Did I miss something about them being related? Or was that just the idea of how close they were because during that time period it wasn't that weird to marry into your family?
I liked the idea of Job. It just seemed like another one of God's tests. Yes, Job was a good person before hand, but that doesn't mean suffering will never come to him. I think God was trying to show that good/evil does not relate to the amount of suffering a person goes through, and we will never understand what does. That is just the way of God and he knows what he is doing. One of the good things about making good people suffer is to increase the amount of their goodness, though, I think. God knew Job could make it through all the suffering while not losing his faith and in the end it make Job a stronger person. A person who didn't have so much faith and wasn't such a good person in the beginning may not have been able to keep his/her faith in God during all the hard times Job went through.
Creation Myths 9/23
As I previously mentioned in my first journal, I am not a religious person. I believe in God and I know the story of Noah, but that is pretty much the extent to my knowledge. I don't think I am as interested in what were reading because I have nothing to compare it to. Many people in our class seem to be religious or have a religious background and therefore can compare what they know about Christianity and the Bible to all the creation myths.
The common theme I noticed was the higher power. There is always either one or multiple Gods that people know are watching them. I think it is because we need security. Humans need to know that they're not alone and that there is someone there to go to when you need advice or times are extremely tough.
Hymn to Aten seemed very out of place. I didn't quite get the feeling of creation, it just talking about how different rulers changed the major religions during the time of their rulings, which I'm sure every king did.
Obviously, Genesis made the most sense to me. It was so ordinary and simple, no crazy Gods being torn in half; although I'm sure it seems very strange to other cultures. The idea of one supreme being also is more logical. There is no arguing, there is no confusion on who to listen to, or if one God loves this person but the other hates them. Everyone follows one supreme being and everyone is happy!
Odyssey books 14-24 9/18
Well I failed already! I forgot to write the journal this week, but credit or no credit, I will write it. I loved his homecoming entirely. I think it was very creative and realistic and it kept up with the feeling of the whole story. It would have been very out of character for Odysseus to just come home and announce right away that he was back. There is no thought to it.. its just lame. However,when he kept it from everybody it just kept the readers on edge...like,"oh, does she know? She definitely knows! Shoot, his cover is blown, its all over" Except it never is. Odysseus is very methodical about every move he makes, when to stand down and take a hit, and when to open his mouth. I love how he is a bum. It gives him and the readers to see how all the different characters vary in how they treat someone who can do nothing for them in return. The Swineherd is wonderful and so is Penelope. The suitors are horrible and it makes you hate them even more to see them treat this poor beggar so badly. You really do just want to see them die! Like, really, they all deserve it. I do feel a bit bad for some of the maids when they get killed, but in a way it just seems like a big cleansing. When Odysseus came back he got rid of all the people that had done him wrong and the evil that would continue to remind him of his horrible time away from home.
My favorite part, thought, was the reuniting of Odysseus and Penelope when he said who he was. The test was perfect and understandable. With all these men living in her home all the time, who knew what kind of tricks they would play? She is a very intelligent woman and it was just another way to make sure she stayed faithful. I think this story does undermine and not describe the passion between the two enough, though. They have been apart for 20 years. 20 critical years where they were doing much of their growing and maturing. Now he comes back and they are two different people then when he left. No doubt his hardships have changed him as well as the 20 years of sadness for Penelope. The fact that they can reconnect like that so well and so soon just shows how much in love they were when Odysseus left.
Odyssey books 7-13 9/8
I am beginning to become irritated with this story. Yes, it is supposed to be a fun and dangerous adventure that emphasizes the extent of troubles and hardship that this man went through, but there is only so much to say! It is new obstacle after new obstacle, and I feel myself slowly distancing myself from the characters because I just get annoyed that all the Gods won't just let Odysseus get home. They have no point behind what they are doing, what is he learning from the tough trials that these Gods put them through? He is just killing innocent men. And let me add that he is not a good captain. It very much angers me that he does not discuss what the Gods tell him and give his crew the chance to vote and decide together if they want to risk their lives. He constantly degrades his crew and puts his safety before theirs. I thought the leader of the army was supposed to be in front and lead his troops? Odysseus follows. If they arrive on new land, he sends some of his crew out to explore the land. If there is something dangerous ahead, he sends people in his crew to see what is really going on. He also ignores them when they are trying to talk to him. After they blind the kyklopes, they are sailing away to freedom and he feels the need to tell the Kyklopes who he really is. Why? Did he have to have the glory and the fame from it? not to mention that he kept messing with the kyklopes after he had already thrown a rock at their ship and almost gotten them killed. To me, Odysseus seems pretty selfish and it's starting to make me think that the only reason he is so famous is because he may have been the only one that made it back alive. Is this because he is so strong and brave and valiant? No. It is because he put his crew before himself and had them make all the sacrifices.
On another note, I have been finding it easier to read this story and understand it. Earlier when we began I would have to read and re-read, but now I am more able to actually get into the story and understand it while I read it even though I skip over so many Gods' names and such. It is definitely a certain flavor of literature and I think people lean towards and enjoy different types.
Odyssey books 1-6 9/1
So far i am enjoying this story a lot more than Gilgamesh. This story seems much more adventurous and uses more Gods that I am actually familiar with. One thing I have noticed so far that seems to jump out at me, is the personalities of the Gods. They just remind me of little kids. They give me the picture of Zeus and Hera as mom and dad and then all the other Gods are just their children. As most are aware, there are good kids and then there are the trouble makers; and throughout the story, the 'kid' Gods are just playing around and Zeus is trying to undo all the trouble they cause. This can also be compared to the flood stories of Noah and Gilgamesh where the Gods make irrational decisions and then regret them.
It also seems as though the humans are just little toys that the Gods play with. The Gods have no apathy for the humans, they just kill whomever they want, or give special treatment to whomever they'd like. For example, Calypso just decides to hold odysseus hostage for a couple of years on an island just because she desires so. He is on his way home from the war and she completely disrupts his life because she wants somebody to play with. Odysseus also blinds the Cyclops to defend himself and this leads to Poseidon playing cruel games with Odysseus' life the rest of his voyage home.
Another theme I noticed concerning Calypso is the fact that even Gods can be unhappy. Her need to hold a man, a mortal at that, hostage just to get some attention and to have someone to be with her shows that the Gods are more like humans than we thought. It also represents the saying that 'money can't buy everything' because she has all these powers and great beauty but Odysseus wants his wife anyway because he truly loves her. Consequently, it portrays the strength of true love as well.
Gilgamesh parts 1-4 8/25
Well I would just like to say that this is definitely not going to be the easiest class for me. I noticed a lot of people drawing parallels in class between Gilgamesh and The Bible and Hebrew Scriptures. I am not religious in any way, so I am not educated enough in those areas to relate them really to what we read in class and I am sincerely hoping that that won't hurt my grade at all. However, I did notice while reading a lot of repetitiveness. A specific example is on pages 70 and 71 where Gilgamesh and multiple Gods keep discussing how and why Gilgamesh's cheeks are starved and his face is drawn, and why there is despair in his heart. Many Gods ask him these questions in the same way and Gilgamesh answers in the same way each time. It has to be so repetitive for a reason and perhaps it's because Gilgamesh is part God or King and therefore he has no reason to be upset. Or it is because he is in fact Gilgamesh and it is in his nature to be able to pretty much overcome anything and the Gods are just dumbfounded at how Gilgamesh could be in such poor condition. I think this goes to show that this is how much the loss of a loved one can effect a person. Gilgamesh changed for the better when he met Enkido and now he has lost his brother. He is on a search to find eternal life, but I don't even know if he knows what he wants to live for.
12/9/11
Well this week has been a busy one! I feel we did a lot more in this class this week than in any other week. I hardly remember what we did on Monday. I really liked the peer editing idea, I think that is very beneficial. It is always helpful to hear someone else's opinion, and we don't always get time to share our work with others. THe people who read and critiqued my paper, including you, really pointed out things that I would not have thought of. It is also kind of neat to read someone else's paper and get a sense of how they write and also learn something new!
This week we read the New Testament and the Koran. Once again, I am not religious, so I cannot compare what we read in class to other texts that I may have read. I also find it difficult to actually pay attention to what we read and not zone out because of my lac of understanding of the vocabulary. A lot of the common words that people who have read parts of the Bible may understand, I do not. That seems to hinder me in all areas of learning religion. I do agree with what was said today about how we cannot truly understand the Koran because we are not Muslim. It's kind of like, don't judge a person until you have walked a mile in their shoes. We can only compare the reading to the thoughts already in our head, which are different from the thoughts drilled into a Muslim's mind. I'm sure reading it as someone who grew up Muslim would result in interpreting it differently. One thing that stuck out to me while reading it was the repetition of " God will know what you do." It was worded in multiple ways, but it just made me feel guilty. It puts a lot of the responsibility on the person. Nobody else may know, but God is always watching and always aware of what you do. It just sounded very intimidating to me.
Peer Edit
12/3/11
I found Emilie's paper very interesting. When reading the Odyssey I thought it was completely out of line for these heroes to be crying because men were still supposed to be "emotionless". I thought people then still had the idea that men were not supposed to cry or show any sign of weakness. I guess not! I agree that crying definitely adds to the audience's understanding of the mood in the Odyssey at that time. It makes sense that Homer would use that relatable sign of extreme emotion to better have the audience feel what his characters are feeling. This was a very good essay, it was well written and very informative.
Emilie: I liked your paper a lot, and I very much liked the topic! That is definitely something I thought about when we were reading The Odyssey. Your paper transitions smoothly and has a lot of great information. I really like how you related it so much to The Odyssey, because that is half the point of the paper. Good work! However, the one part I was a little iffy on was when you related it to people today. It kind of goes off topic, I think, but it's not that big of a deal! Other then that I don't think I have any other big revisions to make, just check for grammar and punctuation! I think you have plenty of research. Your intro and conclusion are just fine, I really like the intro. YOu flow smoothly into the thesis of the paper!
Critical Essay
One objective of Honors 201 has been drawing parallels between the texts being read in class, other texts, and the present day. However, one parallel that has not been mentioned includes a deep comparison between women of Ancient Greece, focusing on Athens and Sparta, specifically as contributors to society and to their families, and the women of today. Through this comparison, people today are able to see the development of society and how women have gained the rights they deserve.
To begin, the status of women varied throughout the different Greek city-states. The two most known city-states are Athens and Sparta. These two city-states alone differ greatly in how they let their women live their daily lives. Around the 8th century, women in Athens were thought as dangerous to themselves, and thus had to have a guardian, usually a father, brother, or husband. They were portrayals of evil and temptation. An example of this is show in Homer’s The Odyssey, in which, yes, Penelope is the perfect wife by staying faithful, but the number of women with evil, seductive, and conniving characteristics far out number her. It is debated, however, whether this was just a portrayal of Homer’s individual thoughts of the collaborate thoughts of the time period. They were not allowed to participate in politics, mainly because they didn’t know what was going on due to their duty to be in the home at all times. They were also not really educated, and if so it was by a tutors who taught them spinning, weaving, and other domestic arts. Women were allowed to own things such as clothes and jewelry, but not land. If a women’s husband passed, neither she nor her daughter could inherit land, it was divided equally between the sons. It wasn’t until later in the Archaic Age that daughters could inherit land to help keep the family groups alive. Women pretty much needed to be living with their parents or with a husband at all time because due to Athenian citizenship, women had no financial independence. Speaking of husbands, these women married young to much older men that their parents assigned them to. They did not marry for love or any romantic reason, but for the management of property and the production of heirs. This leads to the thought that there is no real emotional connection between the husbands and wives, unless by coincidence. Life was not about love; it was about doing your duty, getting your chores done, and raising proper heirs to continue the family name after you pass. As assumed, the husband was the head of the household; he made the rules. The wife’s duty was to be in the home, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children; if she was seen on the street people thought she was either a prostitute, slave, or just had to work herself because the family was so poor. This also leads to the thought that due to their need to be in the home, they didn’t’ get much interaction with other people, including other men. This may have led to less of a divorce rate due to other affections, because women probably didn’t get to meet many other men. Being such reserved and distant people, it has been said that, “Women of this time remain shadowy people,” (Blundell 66) because there is so much going on underneath this image of women that people of today can’t possibly know about. The great lack of equality between women and men between 8-6th century Athens is apparent, as women were inferior in every aspect of life.
Life in ancient Sparta was very different for women. It was and is very well known that Spartan women were allowed much more freedom and power in their societies and families then their fellow Greek women from other city-states. Spartan women were known to be confident, audacious women who dressed more freely and even exercised with the men. Women were also given the chance to improve their intellectual skills in school, unlike many other Greek women. To be smarter than the woman standing next to you was to be of greater status in society than her. These women also had more influence in politics due to their greater intellectual skills and knowledge about the world outside their homes. They were still unable to vote, but it was noted that women sometimes still had serious influence. Also adding to their greater contributions to society, Spartan women could in fact own land and could inherit on equal terms as their brothers. Did this equality always happen, no; however, when considering dowry, they could end up with a full/equal share of estate. When these women got married, it was just as it was for Athenian women, to strange men that their parents had paired them with. However, Spartan women got married a few years later than Athenian women, around the age of 18, so they were a little more mature and more able to give birth to healthy children. Concerning the family, a Spartan woman’s husband was gone even more than that of the Athenian woman. This led to the Spartan women having much more control over their families. Spartan husbands had little to no part in the raising of their children, which was the job of their wives; not to mention that most sons left the family early to be trained to become soldiers. This gave Spartan mothers a lot more time on their hands. It is evident that Spartan women were less inferior to the men of their community than Athenian women for many reasons. Spartan women and men each had more control in different aspects of their lives.
In comparison to Athenian and Spartan women of Ancient Greece, women in today’s American society portray similarities as well as differences. For the most part, women can have whatever personality type they want. They can be bold and daring, or quiet and reserved- it is all their decision. If someone takes a walk down the street in most American cities, they will find a variation of clothing and outfits because, unless their religion prohibits it, women and men can dress however they’d like. Yes, certain pieces of apparel may give off suggestions about a person, but it is her choice as to whether she is willing to take that risk. This shows that compared to Spartan and Athenian women, women of today have much more freedom to express themselves and that it is their decisions whether to follow their own preferences or society’s norms. This more relates to Spartan women who could show a little skin if they wanted, unlike Athenian women who had to dress how their government/society told them to. Concerning family situations, times have changed a lot. The perfect family of Ancient Greece including a mother, husband, and multiple children is not necessarily everyone’s dream in today’s society. Many people want to travel instead of settle down to have kids, and that is acceptable. Also, it is not uncommon to find single mothers in this country. Women are still considered to be more naturally care giving and nurturing, but in many families the father contributes just as much to the development of his children as the mother. Another effect on today’s families is the fact that many women work either part-time or full-time. The positive side of that is that women are also able to contribute to the economy and community, however that also means they have less time for their families. This can sometimes have negative effects on children, such as neglect, which leads to poor effort in school, substance abuse, and more. In fact, according to the United States Department of Labor, between the years of 2008 and 2010, the unemployment rate of women, being 8.4%, was less than that of men, which was 10.0%. Most women are able to be a part of the work force because of their educations. Once again, women of today are more similar to Spartan women in the area of intellectual skills. Spartan women were educated, still less then that of men, but more than Athenian women. They were able to build their skills and take pride in how much knowledge they acquired. Today’s women are also able to build their skills in school so they can get more intellectual and better paying jobs. Women have nearly all the oppertunities that men have concerning schooling, and according to the United Nations Statistics Division, in 2008 women made up 57% of the tertiary enrolment in the United States. Clearly stated by the high enrolment of women in schooling beyond high school, they are taking advantage of the privileges that women of Ancient Greece may not have been so lucky to have had. The higher levels of education have also allowed women today to become more involved in politics; however there is yet to be a female president. When comparing Women of today to women of Ancient Greece, the obvious closer match would be a Spartan woman. This is because of the more freedom and independence that these women were granted, unlike the women of Athens.
In final analysis, times have changed plenty for women from the time of 8th-6th century Greece to 20th and 21st century United States. Women of Athens were considered very inferior to men and played the role of the stay at home wife who took care of the kids and the household, and did not get much interaction with others outside the home. She was most important for producing children and listening to her husband. The Athenian woman was not involved in politics or the work force. Comparatively, the Spartan woman was very different, some might even say against the Greek norm. They were very open and forward, able to be a part of the community as well as a wife and mother. Spartan women were still most likely considered inferior to Spartan men, but less so, and it was acknowledged that they knew more then men in certain areas, such as child raising. Spartan women were more than just child-bearers. Women of today can compare more to Spartan women because the level of independence has only grown for women since that time in Greece. Women of today are not the subordinates that women of Ancient Athens were. It is safe to say that throughout the centuries, women have continued to gain freedom and autonomy, along with responsibility in society.
The Art Museum
11/19/11
Today I went to the Ball State's Art Museum. To be honest, museum aren't really my thing to begin with. The art is great and some of the stuff is really neat, but the quiet and fragile atmosphere just kind of freaks me out. Anywho, the first thing I noticed about it was the grand entrance. The steps up to the doors were so beautiful. I felt like I was walking into this grand ballroom. Then we got inside and I saw the pretty dangly diorama sort of thing made of plastic bottles hanging from the ceiling. I was so tempted to steal it and bring it home to put in my room. It was so pretty and just added so much to the room. I liked that a lot of the flooring and staircases were made of things similar to marble. It made the room feel very smooth and elegant and flowy. Which I would think that the creators would want; their viewers to flow from exhibit to exhibit. I also noticed how the rooms, of different sizes, led to other rooms. The art would transition, and so would the room. It continued to flow as it took you to different time period and places. I didn't get a chance to read many of the information labels for the pieces, so I am kind of excited to find out some interesting information on the pieces that I didn't think would actually be too interesting.
Research Paper Proposal and the Aeneid
11/8/11
So I was thinking. I want to find a topic that I can tie into today's viewpoint on it. For example, I was going to research what a wife was supposed to do and how long she was supposed to wait when her husband went off to war (Penelope) back then. Then, I was going to research how army wives are today and see how the role of the wives has changed or not.
The Aeneid at first seems very similar to the Odyssey, but as we talked about it, I felt it was more opposite. The odyssey felt like the closing to all the journeys. The journeys had all taken place, people had suffered, it was finished, and now it's time to move on. The Aeneid was just the beginning. Yes, it seems like this crazy story or dido committing suicide for love and the journey to found Rome, but there is so much more to come. Once Rome is founded, all these new journeys will come about.The Aeneid is actually kind of interesting, and pretty easy to read. Virgil definitely makes DIdo sound like a crazy woman I don't know if that was how he saw all women, or it just made the story more interesting. It's not that Aeneas wasn't suffering, I don't think, it's just that we didn't get to hear about it. I feel like his love was truer than Dido's. She was shot by Cupid to fall in love with Aeneas, and Aeneas' love was natural. Therefore, I think it was just as hard for him to leave, but vein a man and leader, he had to hide his feelings and put his duty before them.I mean, a whole new civilization was a little more important than his love life. This especially shows when he is in the Underworld and actually shed some tears when he sees that he is the reason she kills herself. He tried to make it easier on her by leaving abruptly and not telling her, but it actually made it worse. She didn't know all of his feelings behind it. As for her being so distant there, I think she had already just shut down and shut him out. She was hurting so much that she killed herself. I don't think you can feel that way for too long until you just mentally "check out".
Tao Te Ching
11/7/11
Elizabeth, I think this is a good way of explaining it. [MH]
From reading the dao, I got the feeling that they are just trying to depict the person who can most ideally deal with life. They are describing the person who can adapt most to what life throws at them. They realize that they can't control what comes their way, so they just have to control their attitudes and reactions. When they can understand that everything is thrown their way for a reason and they can handle it without frustration/anger/etc, then they will truly be happy.
In the two other viewpoints of the dao that we discussed in class, I got a very similar feeling. The first one ended with " darkness within darkness, the gate to all mystery" and the second one with "darkness within darkness, the gateway to all understanding". I believe these endings, and specifically the words mystery and understanding, are very connected. One has to realize that he/she is in the dark in life- not knowing what will happen in the future. He/she has to understand that life is a dark mystery that we have to adapt to. Once this is realized, all obstacle emotions(anger,frustration) will fade and the person will be able to just focus on best adapting to situations.
A book that was very interesting to me was 19, because I completely agree with it. It says that getting rid of learning, conventionalized duty, and legalized profiteering would basically make society better and people happier and that is not true. There needs to be rules in a society for it to work and people have to go through some negative things in order to appreciate the positive ones.
The Good Life
10/28/11
Today's discussion really interested me, but it is hard for me to explain my opinions on it. First of all, I'm obviously biased on what a good life is, because I have been molded into dreaming of a nice house, family, car, and job. Not all people want the "American Dream" anymore. Some people don't want to get married or don't want to have kids, and others don't want to settle down and have a nice house, they want to travel the world. The ideal dream life that people reach for varies a lot. Therefore, no matter what people say about every life being able to be a good life, they secretly think their dream life would be the best.
On that note, I do think that there are two parts to the good life. There are the outside factors, the material things you have and how you live your life( extravagantly, frugally), and then there is how a person feels about their life and the things they have and whether they make them happy. I think we can all look at someones life objectively and tell you whether we think they have a good life or not. However, if we go deeper into their emotional life, our viewpoints may change. All in all, I think joy is the most important part of a good life. You can have a materialistically comfortable, good life and still not be happy. So, even though a person has all these nice things and has plenty of money and a nice family, if they aren't feeling joy about their situation in life then I wouldn't say they have a good life. What is the point of having all these nice things if they can't even make you happy?
This leads to the point that a person of any SES can have a good life if they are happy with what they have. We may not look at someone who is poor and living less extravagantly as having a good life, but if they are happy then what else do they need? The point of living is to be happy, in my opinion. That's why we go to school and get jobs; to have the money and create the life that we believe will make us the happiest in the future.
Class Reflection
10/19/11
So far I think this class is going great. There are multiple aspects about it that I like, one being the amount of discussion. I like that its not just teacher lecturing. Sure, that will get information across, but honestly, it doesn't get anyone interested. With the class discussions, we are getting more than just one person's opinion. We are combining multiple peoples' ideas and opinions, along with previous knowledge that we, ourselves, may not have previously had. Also, different people are able to relate what we read in class to different pieces of literature and movies that I never would have thought of, which definitely helps me contrast our readings with different things and pick out its strong points.
I also like that we compare our readings to similar ideas of today. It allows us to see the differences and similarities between religions, laws, and ideas of then and now. We can draw comparisons between the values of today and how we act to support and enforce them and how they may have used different methods to enforce their beliefs back then.
All the people in the class seem very intelligent and opinionated, people that you know will actually do the reading and thats why we don't need to have an assignment for each one, I think. And if they don't understand it, they find a way to make sure they do so they can bring their own ideas to class. It's very cool to be thinking in your mind one thing, and then think about something someone else just said and realize that never even crossed your mind.
Antigone
10/12/11
Antigone was so so so much easier to read than the rest of our previous readings. I could understand it the first time around, and the fact that I could made it all the more interesting. I was actually sure of what was going on at each point in the story, they weren't guesses based on questionable sentences. I was able to get into the story, especially when Haemon was arguing with his father over Antigone's death, which was one of my favorite parts.
I also just loved the character of Antigone overall. She was very dynamic and strong willed, not your average character. She almost scared me a little bit with her readiness to die and lack of fear, but I guess when you don't have much to live for you don't really care as much about leaving this life. It was interesting to see how much she still really loved Polynices after he killer their brother, and to think about whether I would feel the same way if I were in the situation. Would anger over her brothers' deaths not overtake the feeling of loyalty to her brother? The brother who caused all this mess?
Creon seemed like an intelligent but arrogant man. He seemed to think he was so right before and right after they caught Antigone and that she needed to die because she put the will of God before the will of her King.However, I think later on he realized he was taking it a little out of hand when everyone was against him and he realized he was losing points for this decision. However, I think many people, including myself, have this unrealistic view of noble people in that they are very knowledgable and decisive and stick to their ground because they know what's best. If Creon were to admit that he was completely wrong, he would lose all that respect and authority, so he has to modify his extreme punishment for Antigone.
Epic Heroes and Adventure
10/7
Clearly a lot of what I had to say went into our presentation today. I think just putting the word "epic" in front of hero makes it seem larger than a hero, more heroic. The trouble I had was distinguishing why I thought of epic heroes has greater than regular heroes. Each hero is different in his/her own way and when you make a rule, there is always going to be that exception. Therefore, I had a hard time really putting concrete attributes to the name. And that might not even be what epic hero means. Maybe it just pertains to the time period, maybe we were completely wrong. Thats just reinforcing how the word "hero" is used very much on the base of perception.For most people, hero has a set of base attributes that everyone agrees with, but they also have more personal attributes that they also give that hero. This would lead one person to believe someone is a hero because they portray/push for, those more personal attributes, while someone else may disagree with that for different beliefs.
Emma brought this up in class today, and it really was a good comment.She mentioned about whether or not being paid to take on the journey that would eventually make someone a hero would actually lower their status as one. Are volunteer firefighters more of heroes than firefighters who get paid to do what they do? I think most people would say yes, because there is no external incentive for the volunteers. You know they are doing it because they are caring people who just want to help protect the citizens of their community. So, should we count janitors as heroes really? Yes, they clean up after us, poor people, but aren't they getting paid to do that? Not to mention it poses no risk to their lives at all, they are taking no hits for their community.
Song of Songs and Job
9/30
Song of Songs I liked a lot. It was just about the encompassing aspects of true love, I think. They just talked on and on about the lovely aspects of each other's bodies and yada yada. Some parts that I didn't understand were when it said something like" don't awake love until its ready to rise" something along those lines. What does that mean? Like don't accept love and go forth with the actions that accompany it until you know that you can be together? I also was confused when he would call her his wife and his sister. Did I miss something about them being related? Or was that just the idea of how close they were because during that time period it wasn't that weird to marry into your family?
I liked the idea of Job. It just seemed like another one of God's tests. Yes, Job was a good person before hand, but that doesn't mean suffering will never come to him. I think God was trying to show that good/evil does not relate to the amount of suffering a person goes through, and we will never understand what does. That is just the way of God and he knows what he is doing. One of the good things about making good people suffer is to increase the amount of their goodness, though, I think. God knew Job could make it through all the suffering while not losing his faith and in the end it make Job a stronger person. A person who didn't have so much faith and wasn't such a good person in the beginning may not have been able to keep his/her faith in God during all the hard times Job went through.
Creation Myths
9/23
As I previously mentioned in my first journal, I am not a religious person. I believe in God and I know the story of Noah, but that is pretty much the extent to my knowledge. I don't think I am as interested in what were reading because I have nothing to compare it to. Many people in our class seem to be religious or have a religious background and therefore can compare what they know about Christianity and the Bible to all the creation myths.
The common theme I noticed was the higher power. There is always either one or multiple Gods that people know are watching them. I think it is because we need security. Humans need to know that they're not alone and that there is someone there to go to when you need advice or times are extremely tough.
Hymn to Aten seemed very out of place. I didn't quite get the feeling of creation, it just talking about how different rulers changed the major religions during the time of their rulings, which I'm sure every king did.
Obviously, Genesis made the most sense to me. It was so ordinary and simple, no crazy Gods being torn in half; although I'm sure it seems very strange to other cultures. The idea of one supreme being also is more logical. There is no arguing, there is no confusion on who to listen to, or if one God loves this person but the other hates them. Everyone follows one supreme being and everyone is happy!
Odyssey books 14-24
9/18
Well I failed already! I forgot to write the journal this week, but credit or no credit, I will write it. I loved his homecoming entirely. I think it was very creative and realistic and it kept up with the feeling of the whole story. It would have been very out of character for Odysseus to just come home and announce right away that he was back. There is no thought to it.. its just lame. However,when he kept it from everybody it just kept the readers on edge...like,"oh, does she know? She definitely knows! Shoot, his cover is blown, its all over" Except it never is. Odysseus is very methodical about every move he makes, when to stand down and take a hit, and when to open his mouth. I love how he is a bum. It gives him and the readers to see how all the different characters vary in how they treat someone who can do nothing for them in return. The Swineherd is wonderful and so is Penelope. The suitors are horrible and it makes you hate them even more to see them treat this poor beggar so badly. You really do just want to see them die! Like, really, they all deserve it. I do feel a bit bad for some of the maids when they get killed, but in a way it just seems like a big cleansing. When Odysseus came back he got rid of all the people that had done him wrong and the evil that would continue to remind him of his horrible time away from home.
My favorite part, thought, was the reuniting of Odysseus and Penelope when he said who he was. The test was perfect and understandable. With all these men living in her home all the time, who knew what kind of tricks they would play? She is a very intelligent woman and it was just another way to make sure she stayed faithful. I think this story does undermine and not describe the passion between the two enough, though. They have been apart for 20 years. 20 critical years where they were doing much of their growing and maturing. Now he comes back and they are two different people then when he left. No doubt his hardships have changed him as well as the 20 years of sadness for Penelope. The fact that they can reconnect like that so well and so soon just shows how much in love they were when Odysseus left.
Odyssey books 7-13
9/8
I am beginning to become irritated with this story. Yes, it is supposed to be a fun and dangerous adventure that emphasizes the extent of troubles and hardship that this man went through, but there is only so much to say! It is new obstacle after new obstacle, and I feel myself slowly distancing myself from the characters because I just get annoyed that all the Gods won't just let Odysseus get home. They have no point behind what they are doing, what is he learning from the tough trials that these Gods put them through? He is just killing innocent men. And let me add that he is not a good captain. It very much angers me that he does not discuss what the Gods tell him and give his crew the chance to vote and decide together if they want to risk their lives. He constantly degrades his crew and puts his safety before theirs. I thought the leader of the army was supposed to be in front and lead his troops? Odysseus follows. If they arrive on new land, he sends some of his crew out to explore the land. If there is something dangerous ahead, he sends people in his crew to see what is really going on. He also ignores them when they are trying to talk to him. After they blind the kyklopes, they are sailing away to freedom and he feels the need to tell the Kyklopes who he really is. Why? Did he have to have the glory and the fame from it? not to mention that he kept messing with the kyklopes after he had already thrown a rock at their ship and almost gotten them killed. To me, Odysseus seems pretty selfish and it's starting to make me think that the only reason he is so famous is because he may have been the only one that made it back alive. Is this because he is so strong and brave and valiant? No. It is because he put his crew before himself and had them make all the sacrifices.
On another note, I have been finding it easier to read this story and understand it. Earlier when we began I would have to read and re-read, but now I am more able to actually get into the story and understand it while I read it even though I skip over so many Gods' names and such. It is definitely a certain flavor of literature and I think people lean towards and enjoy different types.
Odyssey books 1-6
9/1
So far i am enjoying this story a lot more than Gilgamesh. This story seems much more adventurous and uses more Gods that I am actually familiar with. One thing I have noticed so far that seems to jump out at me, is the personalities of the Gods. They just remind me of little kids. They give me the picture of Zeus and Hera as mom and dad and then all the other Gods are just their children. As most are aware, there are good kids and then there are the trouble makers; and throughout the story, the 'kid' Gods are just playing around and Zeus is trying to undo all the trouble they cause. This can also be compared to the flood stories of Noah and Gilgamesh where the Gods make irrational decisions and then regret them.
It also seems as though the humans are just little toys that the Gods play with. The Gods have no apathy for the humans, they just kill whomever they want, or give special treatment to whomever they'd like. For example, Calypso just decides to hold odysseus hostage for a couple of years on an island just because she desires so. He is on his way home from the war and she completely disrupts his life because she wants somebody to play with. Odysseus also blinds the Cyclops to defend himself and this leads to Poseidon playing cruel games with Odysseus' life the rest of his voyage home.
Another theme I noticed concerning Calypso is the fact that even Gods can be unhappy. Her need to hold a man, a mortal at that, hostage just to get some attention and to have someone to be with her shows that the Gods are more like humans than we thought. It also represents the saying that 'money can't buy everything' because she has all these powers and great beauty but Odysseus wants his wife anyway because he truly loves her. Consequently, it portrays the strength of true love as well.
Gilgamesh parts 1-4
8/25
Well I would just like to say that this is definitely not going to be the easiest class for me. I noticed a lot of people drawing parallels in class between Gilgamesh and The Bible and Hebrew Scriptures. I am not religious in any way, so I am not educated enough in those areas to relate them really to what we read in class and I am sincerely hoping that that won't hurt my grade at all. However, I did notice while reading a lot of repetitiveness. A specific example is on pages 70 and 71 where Gilgamesh and multiple Gods keep discussing how and why Gilgamesh's cheeks are starved and his face is drawn, and why there is despair in his heart. Many Gods ask him these questions in the same way and Gilgamesh answers in the same way each time. It has to be so repetitive for a reason and perhaps it's because Gilgamesh is part God or King and therefore he has no reason to be upset. Or it is because he is in fact Gilgamesh and it is in his nature to be able to pretty much overcome anything and the Gods are just dumbfounded at how Gilgamesh could be in such poor condition. I think this goes to show that this is how much the loss of a loved one can effect a person. Gilgamesh changed for the better when he met Enkido and now he has lost his brother. He is on a search to find eternal life, but I don't even know if he knows what he wants to live for.